Overview

abstract

A process of single diffractive dissociation off nuclei is considered on a basis of solutions to
the nonlinear evolution equation. The relevant saturation scales Q s AD (x, x 0) are
determined and their dependences on Bjorken x, atomic number A, and minimal rapidity gap
Y 0≡ ln 1/x 0 are investigated. The solutions are shown to possess a geometrical scaling in
a broad kinematic region for x well below x 0. The ratio σ diff/σ tot is computed for several
nuclei. We predict that at x≃ 10− 4 this ratio is of the order 25% which is much larger
compared to the one of proton. This result indicates a possibility to observe a very strong
nuclear shadowing.